Your knife is poised, you’re ready to pierce the skin, to cut open the crown of orange flesh that you so carefully picked out. If you are like most, you’ll make the kill, scrape out the guts and toss them aside.
Wait! That is like finding a sunken treasure, but only taking away a starfish. Instead, put those pumpkin seeds in a strainer, rinse off any remaining flesh and roast them up. Here is a delicious recipe that will make them hard to resisit.
You are probably wondering what all the fuss is about? Pumpkin seeds are understated, not only for their taste, but for their jam packed nutritional value.
Only a quarter of a cup, about an ounce, is loaded with important trace minerals. It has off the charts amounts of manganese, around 50% of the the USDA recommended amounts of magnesium, phosphorus and tryptophan (yes, the stuff found in turkey said to help you relax and sleep), and around 15% of iron, zinc and copper.
If you are looking to build your bone density, the high amount of magnesium is something to get excited about. Often we are concerned with calcium levels when osteoporosis might be a health concern, but magnesium is also essential to bone growth and maintenance. Magnesium deficiency is not uncommon, so consider getting checked next time you visit your doctor.
You get all of that, plus around 20% of USDA recommended amount of protein. The 180 calories might seem high to some, but you are getting a big bang for your buck. Consume pumpkin seeds by adding to salads, munching on instead of potato chips, spreading pumpkin butter on toast or crackers (available in most health food stores), and eating mole verde a heavenly and nutritious Mexican dish made with pumpkin seeds.
Whichever way you like to eat them, there is no better time than now, while the great pumpkins are abundant!
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